Every year, Christchurch Adventist School offers an overseas service trip for our year 13 students. This year we had 16 (of a class of 20) students put up their hands for an adventure of 11 days of serving. We partnered with Harold and Sarai Stephens who live in Vanuatu (Sarai was a teacher at our Adventist high schools in Christchurch and Auckland who recently moved back to Vanuatu). They were able to secure a project at Matevulu College—the largest public high school on the island of Santo. It is a boarding school for 600 senior high school students (years 11-13) from all over Vanuatu. It is situated on a hill overlooking the ocean, 30 minutes north of Luganville.
The school was built in 1982, but has fallen into a serious state of disrepair due to a lack of funding. Principal Henry Was, was grateful for our offer of help and asked us to work on repairs and painting on the biggest building on campus—their dining hall—used for assemblies, dining, worships and prizegiving. The project was requested because of the high use of this key building on campus and the impact it would have for students.
Our team repainted all the walls inside and out, made new frames for the windows, replaced the louvres and glass panes for the windows, put up wire mesh across the windows for protection and repainted a feature mural at the main outside end of the hall. A team of local helpers stayed at the school for another five days after our team’s departure to ensure the project was completed.
Rafa, the head prefect of the team that helped us, said, “Buildings can be restored in a week, but lives are shaped by a lifetime of service. The paint on these walls may fade one day, but the impact you’ve had on us never will.”
Our students were incredible in their willingness to serve in this setting. As students, they are always curious about how other schools operate and it was interesting for them to be based at a major school in Vanuatu. Some had been apprehensive about the trip beforehand but many shared that it had helped them conquer or face their fears. They saw God navigate through every challenge and bring them through safely (and usually landing them in a better place than the original plan).
Their willingness to trust God helped them fully engage positively with everything offered on the trip. Many who hadn’t done so before stood up to share and sing at a church service and a special concert. The team was requested to sing at a morgue for the family of a pastor who had died during the trip. They didn’t hesitate to accept the invitation and offer comfort through song in a very challenging setting. But throughout the trip, they stayed positive and remained focused on serving and growing their capacity to help others and supporting one another.
One student, Ahava, said, “We went thinking we had humility to serve but left utterly humbled by the way we had been served. People had hearts full of generosity and love for those they had never met before.”
Our staff and students have been so grateful for the support of many entities who helped make this year’s trip possible. ADRA NZ were able to give us funds from Sanitarium NZ, which provided the project materials. Adventist Volunteer Service provided free travel insurance, which was a major help in keeping our trip costs down and providing much-needed support. We were also blown away by the support from our families and school community. We hope to continue growing this new relationship with Matevulu College and return in the next few years. These trips can only happen with the help of so many people and entities. But the results remain clear—young people truly make a difference when given a chance to go with Jesus and step outside of their comfort zones to serve others.
Lance Boulton is the chaplain at Christchurch Adventist School in New Zealand.
